Dean of UNH Business School Announces Congressional Run

Republican Dan Innis, dean of the University of New Hampshire's business school, is running for Congress in the state's First District.

Innis, who also owns a Portsmouth inn with his husband, announced his campaign via an online video Wednesday. Though he's never run for office, he tells The Associated Press that the national situation is so dire with the growing deficit, national debt and Washington gridlock, that he's determined to do something about it. He says too many members of Congress let Washington change them instead of the reverse.

Former Manchester mayor Frank Guinta also is seeking the GOP nomination. Guinta held the First District seat for one term before being defeated in 2012 by Democrat Carol Shea-Porter, who also held the seat for two previous terms.

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The tightest race in New Hampshire lived up to expectations last night. Carol Shea-Porter eked out a victory over Frank Guinta by four points, or just fewer than 14,000 votes.

While the race was close all the way through, indications that it would be a good night for Shea-Porter rolled in early. It was the wee hours of the morning when Carol Shea-Porter thanked a dwindling crowd of night-owl supporters for handing her back the seat in the US House of Representatives that she lost two-years ago.

This race is real bellwether for a number of reasons: the district itself demographically perfectly balanced between liberal and conservative voters, both candidates have held the seat before meaning they are more-or-less on equal footing in terms of name recognition, and both are party stalwarts have voted with their partys’ leadership high in 90th the percentile.